Body Composition Assessment and Smart-phone Based Counselling on Healthy Eating and Weight Management

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University221 enrolled

Overview

This study proposed an integrated multi-disciplinary approach including a professional and convenient body composition measurement and an immediate counselling after the measurement, followed by 6-month smart-phone based individualized counselling. We believe that this approach will promote healthy eating behaviors and weight management among middle-aged Chinese in Hong Kong.

This is a two-arm, individual level, 6-month randomized controlled trial. The intervention group will receive convenient body composition measurement and 6-month smart-phone based individualized counselling. No specific intervention will be given to the control group except the common anthropometric and body composition measurement. A pretest-posttest evaluation and between-group comparison will be used to test whether the impact/success of the project has been achieved.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

DOUBLE

Enrollment

221

Conditions

Weight Management Healthy Diet

Interventions

Body composition assessment and smart-phone based counsellingBEHAVIORAL

As for the body composition assessment, body fat and muscle thickness, body fat percentage and distribution will be measured and a brief face-to-face counseling soon after the measurement will be implemented to the participants. Body assessment were measured by the InBody 270 (Biospace, Seoul, Korea) device, which provides a convenient way of accurate body fat measurement comparable with those obtained using air displacement plethysmography (ADP) (about 90% precision). As for the Whatsapp-based counselling and communication session, qualitative dietary counselling will be offered every two weeks through the Whatsapp. One session contains 15 minutes, including the topics like making a balanced diet (55 % glucose, 30 % lipids and 15 % proteins), diversifying food intake, dietary advices and recommendations in healthy eating behaviors (e.g., eat slowly, eat at a regular time, avoid to skip a meal, drink at least 1.5 L of water each day).

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 45 YearsMax age: 65 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Able to understand Cantonese and read Chinese; * Self-reported vegetable and fruit consumption is less than 5 servings per day (one serving means 125 mL (½ cup) fresh, frozen or canned fruits or vegetables; or 250 mL (1 cup) raw leafy veggies or salad; or 125 mL (½ cup) 100% juice; or 1 fruit; * Reachable by smart-phone and familiar with the use of smart-phone; * Would not move from the local area during the study period. Exclusion Criteria: * Self-reported history of cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, neurological disorder, musculo-skeletal disorder, osteoarthritis, and eating disorder; * Receiving medically prescribed diet or physical activity intervention; * For women, currently pregnant; * Have been taking any medications or long-term supplement such as herbs; * Cannot provide written informed consent.

Locations (1)

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Hung Hom, Hong Kong

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

The difference of the weight management belief

Four items from belief domain of Chinese weight management scales (WMS) was used to measure the participants' belief of self weight management . Each item is measured by 3- or 4-point Likert scale. The total score change from 4 to 15 with higher scores indicating better weight management belief.